News / Halcrow still waiting to be rescued
A SHETLAND yachtsman has spent an uncomfortable night on board his drifting vessel waiting to be rescued by the Chilean coastguard.
Andrew Halcrow, from Burra, was four months in to a second attempt to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe when the mast of his yacht Elsi Arrub broke in a huge storm west of Cape Horn.
The 54 year old alerted the coastguard in Punta Arenas on Saturday and has since been waiting to be rescued from an area around 100 miles west of Chile’s southern most province Magallanes and Antartica Chilena.
A message on his website www.elsiarrub.co.uk on Sunday morning read: “Very cold, haily nght on Elsi, wind and sea taking a while to lessen. Ship coming from Punta Arenas and may look at a helicopter transfer.
“Andrew is waiting for a helicopter from Punta Arenas, which is the latest method of trying to help him.
“He can only carry one bag onto the helicopter which restricts what he can take off Elsi.”
On Saturday, after the news of Halcrow’s bad luck spread through he local community, his wife Allyson said all involved felt devastated but relieved that he was safe.
“He is not out of danger yet; he is on a ship without sail. Once he is on land, then that will be great,” she added.
It looks almost certain that Halcrow’s yacht will not be towed to safety but left to drift.
Halcrow had set off from Falmouth on what was thought to be a 13-month voyage in November, determined to complete the journey after a previous attempt in 2006 was cut short when he had to be rescued 300 miles south west of Australia with a burst appendix.
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